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Aug 23, 2009

Interesting Information About Baby Carrots That I Did Not Know

The following is information from a farmer who grows and packages carrots for IGA, METRO, LOBLAWS, etc.

The small cocktail (baby) carrots you buy in small plastic bags are made using the larger crooked or deformed carrots which are put through a machine which cuts and shapes them into cocktail carrots; most people probably know this already.

What you may not know and should know is the following: once the carrots are cut and shaped into cocktail carrots they are dipped in a solution of water and chlorine in order to preserve them (this is the same chlorine used in your pool) since they do not have their skin or natural protective covering, they give them a higher dose of chlorine.

You will notice that once you keep these carrots in your refrigerator fora few days, a white covering will form on the carrots; this is the chlorine which resurfaces. At what cost do we put our health at risk to have esthetically pleasing vegetables which are practically plastic.We do hope that this information can be passed on to as many people aspossible in the hopes of informing them where these carrots come from and how they are processed.

Chlorine is a very well known carcinogen (Cancer causing).Please let us make this information available to as many people as possible.If you care about your family and friends, pass it on.

Generally, consumers can determine whether small carrots are true baby carrots or not by looking at what's listed on the packaging. Labels that say "baby carrots" appear on packages of very young carrots that are harvested while the vegetables are still quite tiny. Labels that proclaim "baby-cut carrots" appear on packages of petite carrots made by chopping down and polishing much larger versions of the vegetable.

P.S. www.snopes.com gives the info about the carrots. Baby carrots are harvested when they are very small. Baby-cut carrots are cut from larger carrots and evidently have to be put through a process to reduce contamination. It's a good idea to go to www.snopes.com to read the info for yourself